Description

The NCIOM Task Force on Child Abuse Prevention was charged with developing a statewide strategic plan to prevent child abuse and neglect. In the past, most of the attention and state resources have focused on investigating cases of abuse and neglect and providing child welfare services. While child protective services are important, the goal of this task force was to develop a vision for preventing child maltreatment from occurring in the first place. To this end, the Task Force developed a statewide plan to prevent child maltreatment. The plan:

• Included different levels of intervention, including universal, selected and indicated programs that target children, families, and communities that are based on empirical research (to the extent possible).
• Established indicators to help identify progress towards the goal of reducing child maltreatment, along with an evaluation timetable to measure progress towards this goal.
• Identified a state agency or agencies that has preventing child maltreatment as one of its principal responsibilities, along with a set of recommendations on the resources needed to carry out this responsibility.
• Focused governmental and nongovernmental organizations on programs and systems of care that will reduce the incidence of child maltreatment.
• Identified ways to maximize existing funding or retool existing programs to prevent child maltreatment.
• Examined gaps in existing programs or resources needed to prevent child maltreatment along with identifying possible funding sources.
• Identified additional measures that more accurately reflect the incidence of child maltreatment and prevention efforts.